Round the Sphere Again: Serving As Examples

Here are a few posts I’ve read lately that have prompted me to think about how what other believers do—their stories—can serve as examples for us.

Seeing God’s Work
Terry Stauffer marks the two year anniversary of the day his daughter Emily “went for her last walk on this old earth” and shows us a little bit about how to trust God when our circumstances in this life are unbelievably difficult. (New Lumps)

Even a Child
can teach us something about how we should pray when we are enduring trials. (Irish Calvinist)

A Matter of Great Embarrassment
I’m thinking both men in this story can teach us something: Al Mohler on Why He Changed His Mind on Women Pastors (Kingdom People)

Giving Up
Am I “doing the same thing, with the same gusto, for the same reasons”? (Frank Turk at Pyromaniacs) 

Theological Term of the Week

infralapsarianism
The view that in the plan made by God in eternity, his decree to permit the fall logically preceded his decree of election, so that when God chose some people to receive eternal life, he was choosing them from the whole mass of humanity, all regarded as fallen creatures.

• Scripture used to support infralapsarianism:

  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:19 ESV)
  

  …he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:4-6 ESV)

• From The Westminster Shorter Catechism:

  Q. 19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
  A. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.

  Q. 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
  A. God, having out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer. 

• From The Plan of Salvation by B. B. Warfield:

  …[W]e cannot speak of salvation any more than of reprobation without positing sin. Sin is necessarily precedent in thought, not indeed to the abstract idea of discrimination, but to the concrete instance of discrimination which is in question, a discrimination with regard to a destiny which involves either salvation or punishment. There must be sin in contemplation to ground a decree of salvation, as truly as a decree of punishment. We cannot speak of a decree discriminating between men with reference to salvation and punishment, therefore, without positing the contemplation of men as sinners as its logical prius.

Learn more:

1. Monergism.com: What do the terms “supralapsarianism,” and “infralapsarianism” mean…?
2. Phil Johnson: Notes on Supralapsarianism & Infralapsarianism
3. Kevin DeYoung: Theological Primer: Supralapsarianism and Infralapsarianism
4. Loraine Boettner: Infralapsarianism and Supralapsarianism
5. John Frame: Infralapsarianism
6. Curt Daniel: The Order of the Decrees (mp3) from The History and Theology of Calvinism
7. Dr. Derek W. H. Thomas: Differing Views on Election 01 and 02 (RTS on iTunes U)

Related terms:

• order of God’s decrees
• supralapsarianism

Filed under Reformed Theology.

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it.

I’m also interested in any suggestions you have for tweaking my definitions or for additional (or better) articles or sermons/lectures for linking. I’ll give you credit and a link back to your blog if I use your suggestion.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms organized in alphabetical order or by topic.

Round the Sphere Again: A Little Theology

Glorification
How much have you thought about this final step in your experience of salvation? What will it be like to be glorified? (Triablogue)

God’s Attributes
A long, long time ago, I wrote a series of posts on the attributes of God. I ended each post with a paragraph or two about what it meant for us practically that our God had a particular characteristic or perfection. If I’d had this chart, it might have been a whole lot easier. (Every Day in Grace with a HT to Turretinfan)